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Tales of the City is set in San Francisco in 1976 - three years after I was born, so how can I feel nostalgic?! This is how a feel good book should be written. I loved it.

They’re all great characters, and I warn you - this is a laugh out loud book, and when you have to explain to the 12 or 14 year old sons WHY you’re laughing, the explanations can be interesting! I feel fortunate that a friend convinced me to go and see Armistead Maupin with her at my local literature festival, otherwise I don’t know whether I would have ever picked up this book. I’d simply never heard of Maupin, and I don’t have Netflix to have heard about the TV series. Now I wish I had Netflix!

I’m glad I have book 2 waiting in the wings, because I really want to keep living in 1970s San Francisco!
  
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Kate (493 KP) rated Until We Collide in Books

Jul 27, 2020 (Updated Jul 27, 2020)  
Until We Collide
Until We Collide
Charlotte Fallowfield | 2016 | Contemporary, Humor & Comedy, Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Feel good book (0 more)
Some paragraphs not put in (0 more)
I really enjoyed this book and was just what I needed. I wanted a feel good book and this was definitely one of these. It made me smile, chuckle and get frustrated at the bad timing. I was frustrated but in a good way.
I read a lot of crime so love reading a heart warming book every now and again.
I got straight into the book and was hooked. I couldn't put this down.
There was one thing about the book that I didn't like and I realised this happens in other books by this author. The writer doesn't put a space into a new paragraph in some sections. For example: Alec and Paige are eating a meal and having a conversation. The meal has just arrived. She asks him if he is staying at the hotel and I realised after a few lines that they had finished eating and were back at the hotel but this wasn't clear as there was no break. There was just a new line but it looked like they were still talking. This happened a few times and did make it confusing when you realised it was at a different time or day.
As previously mentioned the story was so heart warming but both frustrating. Paige is hilarious and you cannot imagine someone having such bad luck. I felt embarrassed for her like a friend would.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good romance book with a bit on comedy. This gives it a really feel and relatable aspect to the book.
Despite the writing style, no clear paragraphs when the time has moved, I would purchase other books by this author.
  
Journeyman (2017)
Journeyman (2017)
2017 | Drama, Sport
Great performance from Paddy Considine
Paddy Considine really makes this film. I’ve always thought he’s a fantastic actor, and he proves it yet again with his performance in this film. Not only is his direction great, but his acting is truly superb. For me, the acting is the best part about this film and really what makes it better than average. Jodie Whittaker is also very good as Matty’s wife. The plot itself is good and definitely highlights the darker side of boxing, in a very stark and realistic manner. My issue is that boxing films have been done so many times before, and whilst this is a slightly different (and very good) take on the physical effects of boxing, I feel boxing has been done too many times before. Still worth a watch though for Paddy Considine’s performance alone.
  
The Tick  - Season 1
The Tick - Season 1
2016 | Comedy
Good silly fun, an antidote to the heavy duty Netflix Marvel shows
The Tick is good fun, and a good alternative to all the super serious or cheesy superhero shows on Netflix etc. Arthur is the reclusive geek whose father was killed accidentally by superheroes when he was a child and he is now trying to prove the evil superhero is still alive and active. he meets up with the Tick and ends up reluctantly as his sidekick (though is the bigger contributor of the two).
The whole series could probably have been boiled down to one feature rather than 12 half hour episodes but it doesn't feel drawn out or padded.
Peter Serafinowicz as the Tick is somewhat underused I would say, with the bulk of the focus being on Arthur, given his comedic abilities but I think that suited the story.
  
Every Day (2018)
Every Day (2018)
2018 | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
6
7.4 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
A shy teenager falls for someone who transforms into another person every day.



David Levithan knows how to write around good subject matter. Consistently pleasing novels that make excellent movies. And this one was no exception to that.

The feel good factor about this one is high. And while I love a good romance I find it difficult to believe that even a hormonal teenager would choose to believe such a wild story.

"I wake up every morning in someone else's body." A plot point with lots of potential story lines. But lots that I think I would have enjoyed more than this. That fact doesn't take away that I enjoyed this a lot.

A film with no end and no beginning though... why are you guys doing this to me? Where was the origin story? Where was some resolution?
  
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Sheridan (209 KP) rated Endurance in Books

Jul 9, 2017  
Endurance
Endurance
Ann Aguirre | 2012 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
7.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
An Interesting Lead in to the Next Novel
Contains spoilers, click to show
I read this one last after I'd finished the whole series and I feel that was the best way to do it. You really get a feel for the struggle that Thimble and Stone had. *SpoilerAlert* Spoiler for book three! I would have liked to have read their story all the way to the docks where they go to the island as it would have tied in nicely with the third book but I understand that would have probably been a book in itself instead of a short story but yeah, overall a great piece of fiction. I'm really glad the author saved Thimble and Stone they were great characters too good to lose in a series like this.
  
Chains (Seeds of America, #1)
Chains (Seeds of America, #1)
Laurie Halse Anderson | 2008 | History & Politics
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I just finished this work last night and I thought it was good, but I didn't think it was the greatest. I wasn't even particularly compelled to see if my library had the second work for check out (I usually avoid reading series, because then I feel inclined to read the entire series).

There were parts of the story that made me cringe in horror. There were parts that made me sad. The work moved me, but not enough to feel immediately compelled to find the second book. I placed it on hold, so I do aim to read it eventually just because...

I guess I was excited to read this book, but then got my hands on it and didn't see where all the hype was.
  
The Little Drummer Girl
The Little Drummer Girl
2018 | Thriller
When it was announced that Little Drummer Girl was going to be adapted, directed by Park Chan-Wook, starring Alexander Skarsgård, I was so completely excited. Park Chan-Wook's Stoker is one of my favorite films, and Skarsgård is always good.
I feel like there was a high bar set by The Night Manager, another Le Carre adaptation, and this fell way below it. Every few minutes, my friend and I compared them... Little Drummer Girl was just boring. I feel like they could have easily updated it, since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is still alive and well.
Skarsgård essentially played the same character as when he lost his memory as Eric in True Blood. I like Florence Pugh, but her character was just flat for me.
  
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
1971 | Action, Comedy, Family
7
8.1 (18 Ratings)
Movie Rating
It's fun (0 more)
A family film that still has a feel good feel to it...
A trainee witch is looking after a group of children in wartime Britain when her final lesson in witchcraft doesn't arrive... What follows is a search for the final spell on a magical bed... Trying to stop a German invasion and a fair bit of singing and dancing...

Angela Lansbury stars, in a role far removed from the character that she would later become famous for and puts in a great performance as the novice witch...

A live action and cartoon film that works really well when the two bend together, and is just the sort of film to bring a smile when things are getting you down...